


of a loose jumping sheep and the week that followed

by throughthelooking_glass



Category: God's Own Country (2017)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28126320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/throughthelooking_glass/pseuds/throughthelooking_glass
Summary: Gheorghe thought he knows how Johnny could be when he was being in his overall bad-mood self, having lived together for almost a year now after their return from Scotland, but this Johnny in front of him was just next level sulking altogether.He had known that what happened a week prior must be the cause, but it still did not explained why Johnny had acted this way.Will he finally understands why?
Relationships: Gheorghe Ionescu/Johnny Saxby
Comments: 12
Kudos: 47





	of a loose jumping sheep and the week that followed

Gheorghe thought he knows how Johnny could be when he was being in his overall bad-mood self, having lived together for almost a year now after their return from Scotland, but this Johnny in front of him was just next level sulking altogether.

“you need to rest, John.” He already knew he would only be met with silence and Johnny, instead of doing what he asked, would become more determined to do whatever it is he is doing, and that was precisely what happened. The only reply he got was the sound of the increasing pace of a block of wood being sawed.

Gheorghe stopped hammering the barn door he had been working on and sighed at the view in front of him. They were in front of the barn mid-afternoon and there Johnny was sitting on a bench with his crutches resting beside him, one propped against the bench and one lying on the ground. Johnny, in his awkward position with his right leg straightened out, huffed and puffed as he tried to saw through the block.

“Fuck!” Gheorghe dropped his hammer and run towards Johnny the moment he heard his scream. Johnny had put the saw down and holding his hand to inspect the bloodied finger. Gheorghe peered over Johnny’s shoulder and felt somehow relieved that at least the wound was not big, the saw seemed to only graze a bit of Johnny’s index finger of the hand he had used to hold the block in place.

“That’s it, John.” He said a bit more sternly than he intended before he continued, “we need to get you to the house to clean that wound so it won’t get infected.” Johnny, still holding his hand, spitted on his wounded finger instead and looked up to Gheorghe with an eyebrow arched.

Smartass, Gheorghe thought “No, it will not do it, back then we were alone and far away at the top fell. It was the only thing I could do to your wound, now the house is only a few steps away, we need to clean the wound properly.” Gheorghe explained. The wound was not big but it was not a small nick either that can be ignored.

Johnny looked away but began to shift in his seat and bent over to pick up his crutches. As he tried to stand up, Gheorghe saw he winched a little before started to walk. Gheorghe trailed behind him, just in case anything happened and he needs to catch Johnny as he was struggling in his steps. The ground was still a bit soggy from the drizzle the night before. It had made Johnny’s crutches stuck a few times which he then needed to pull up with more force in each step. As they walked to the house, Gheorghe glanced at Johnny’s legs and made a mental note to also change the bandage on Johnny’s sprained right ankle when cleaning his wound as it was dirty with sawdust and soil from earlier.

Gheorghe took a deep breath, He could not help himself from remembering the day it all started. It was a week before today when they noticed the barn door’s screech had become too much every time they open it that they were afraid it would startle the beasts inside. They both then went to the hardware shop to buy wood blocks and new hinges to fix the door, and other supplies they thought they needed for the farm as well. Johnny had insisted to bring the heavy woods himself from the truck to the barn and gave Gheorghe the lighter plastic bags filled with other supplies. When Gheorghe had already reached the barn, Johnny was still halfway through. To their surprise, the second Gheorghe opened the barn door, a loose sheep just jumped right out of the barn and run into John’s direction. Johnny, already struggling to keep his balance with all the woods he carried, was startled at the incoming sheep and tried to get out of the sheep’s way only to tripped himself over. The sound Gheorghe heard next was a mix of a curse Johnny shouted, a sheep’s loud BAAA, a thud of Johnny’s body hitting the ground, and a crash from all the woods falling around him.

One trip to the town’s clinic later and Johnny had to walk with crutches for at least three weeks. Since then, Johnny had stubbornly refused any help from anyone and determined to continue to work on the farm as usual, getting pissed at himself every time he fell or failed to do something. This concerned Gheorghe greatly as he was afraid Johnny’s ankle will not heal properly, one day, Gheorghe got up from the bed leaving behind sleeping Johnny, to start the farm work alone, only to get approached by an angry Johnny later in the morning asking why Gheorghe had left him behind and demanding that he will do his part of the job. From that day, Gheorghe had learnt to accept that Johnny just would not stop and instead, always picked the heavy work first before Johnny had the chance to do it, which, was not that hard considering he was always steps ahead of Johnny.

When they finally reached the house, Johnny immediately went to the kitchen for the medicine cabinet, unaware that he was leaving a trail of mud from his crutches on the hardwood floor. Gheorghe added another point to his mental note to wipe those before Nan found out someone messed her kitchen floor. Sitting beside Johnny, Gheorghe pulled Johnny’s wounded hand. As expected, he was met with resistance, Johnny shot him a look as he tried to pull his hand back, but Gheorghe was determined. It had been a week of Johnny acting this way and Gheorghe could not stand it any longer.

“Please, John, let me.” He said, pleading, and Johnny finally relented, letting Gheorghe took his hand and began observing the wound. The bleeding had stopped but with all the dried blood and debris around the wound, it definitely needed some cleaning first.

“nowt to fuss about, just a small cut,” Johnny said as Gheorghe got up to wash his hands in the kitchen sink and brought back with him a bowl of water to the table.

“yes, I know, but you know I like to take care of you, right?” Gheorghe reassured, drying his hands on a towel, and took out a bottle of antiseptic, few pads of gauze, and plaster from its container.

Johnny said nothing and brought his face to the other way, trying to hide his reddening face. Nice effort but Gheorghe could still clearly saw his reddened ears. Gheorghe dutifully cleaned Johnny’s hand and took care of the wound before finally brought that hand up to his face to kiss the back of Johnny’s hand, careful not to graze the wounded index finger.

“Thanks,” Johnny whispered. Gheorghe looked up, with Johnny’s hand still on his lips, and smiled. He met Johnny’s eyes before the man decided to continue to talk.

“and sorry.”

Gheorghe’s brows furrowed, “what for?”

“for bein a mardy-ass, like.”

Gheorghe smiled and brought his other hand to cup Johnny’s face. Sensing the touch, Johnny took a deep breath and closed his eyes. They stayed like this for a moment before Gheorghe took the wounded hand down off his lips and pulled Johnny’s face closer to kiss him. He intended the kiss only as a peck but it clearly had evolved to something deeper and more passionate than that. He could feel the desperation there, the appreciation, the apology. After all, it had been a week since the last time they had sex with each other, the reason being an over-worried Gheorghe had thought maybe sex was not safe considering Johnny’s ankle. Looking back in hindsight, Gheorghe realized maybe that had some contribution to Johnny’s sour mood lately.

They stopped to take a breather, panting. Looking around the kitchen, Gheorghe was grateful that Deidre and Martin were away for Martin’s routine follow up. The opportunity did not often present itself for them to show their affection to each other anywhere in the house but their bedroom.

Johnny was the first one to spoke,

“When Dad had his first stroke, he came home from t’hospital in crutches. Can’t do anything for himself or the farm.” Johnny recounted.

“were only in high school then, me, had to take care of me dad and the farm.” There was sadness that Gheorghe saw in Johnny’s eyes, though he was also sensing a hint of regret in his tone. Not sure, Gheorghe held Johnny’s hand and squeezed, maybe this could help, he thought.

“’t’was then I know I have no option out there, except to stay on the farm.” Johnny sighed before continued, eyes avoiding Gheorghe’s gaze, looked up blankly to the kitchen window instead.

“hate my life then, everyone were preppin for uni and all that, like, but there I was, woke up early to feed the beasts, comin home to take care of em sum more, helpin dad with nan, and still had to stay late for sum fuckin home works.” What Gheorghe did not expect was when Johnny turned his eyes back on him, the tears that had pooled in his eyes.

“hated me dad then, blamed him for everythin that happened. I’m a bad person, Gheorghe, I am,” Johnny finally sobbed. George tightened his hold of his hands.

“there he was, helpless after a freakin stroke, and I blamed him for it, for everythin shite in me life.”

“you were young back then, John, you did not know much. You did not know better.” Gheorghe felt there was not any reassurance that he could give that would actually do anything to Johnny. He let go of Johnny’s hands and brought himself closer to hug him, careful not to budge Johnny’s straightened right leg, letting the man sobbed on his shoulder.

Johnny took a deep breath before continuing, “that’s why I don’t want you or nan fussing over me, like, don’t want to bother everyone so much, y’know, afraid that I’ll be a burden to you and you’ll end up hatin me.”

“oh, John.” Gheorghe sighed, he tightened his hug before he let him go to look into Johnny’s eyes, both hands still on his shoulders.

“I won’t hate you or resent you or anything like that. I love you, John, and I will do anything I can do to convince you, that I love you, and more importantly, that you too, deserve to love yourself.” Gheorghe said. It may take a long time to convince Johnny to stop thinking so badly of himself, to shred those years of built-up self-doubt and insecurities, to make him realized that he too deserved to be loved. It is a difficult feat, but it is a challenge that Gheorghe is willing to take on.

A weak smile appeared on Johnny’s face, “thank you.” He said, still with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Gheorghe smiled and got up off his chair, waiting for Johnny to follow suit.

“let’s lay down on the sofa for a bit. I will change your dirty bandage and we can ice your ankle like the doctor ordered.” Offered Gheorghe. Johnny went over to the living room first while Gheorghe stayed in the kitchen. He opened the fridge to prepare a makeshift icepack made with little ice blocks and a tied tea towel. He then headed to the medicine cabinet to fetch some clean bandages.

The sight that greeted him in the living room was so precious it tugged his heart a little. Johnny, sprawled over the sofa with his right foot propped up on the sofa arm, was snoring lightly, with his crutches tossed on the carpet below. Finished with the bandage and the ice, Gheorghe plopped down on the carpet near Johnny and kissed the tousled hair of the man he loved so much. He sat there holding Johnny’s hand, feeling the sense of quiet and peace in the room. From where he sat, His eyes lazily gazed over the room before suddenly focusing on the kitchen opening, he squinted his eyes and there he saw it, on the kitchen floor, the mud stains!

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is my first work that I dared to even wrote down and "publish", any other scenarios before only ever resides inside my head, that being said, I apologize for any clumsy writing or mistakes that you find. I am also not from the UK and does not have english as my first language, for that I apologize if there are words that I use that is improper on the setting. I would highly appreciate any input if you ever decided to write me one.
> 
> This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the wonderful movie God's Own Country directed by Francis Lee.  
> The story I tell here about the characters is not purported or believed to be part of the story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line, I have not gained nor will gain profit out of posting this story. Thank you Francis Lee for the amazing work that had resonated with so many of its audiences.
> 
> cheers


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